Species are exclusively found in the New World, with the highest diversity in the Neotropical realm.
Diversity
Apatelodidae is undergoing taxonomic and phylogenetic revision,[3] as a result of which the exact numbers of genera and species included have been subject to frequent change. "A global checklist of the Bombycoidea" (Kitching et al. 2018) lists twelve genera and 182 species for the family.[1][4]
Not included in the checklist are taxonomic changes that occurred shortly before, or since, publication. Some examples of such changes are the addition of genera Arotros (transferred from Bombycidae in 2019)[4] and Asocia (newly described in 2021)[5] to Apatelodidae, the synonymization of Apatelodes florisa to Apatelodes schreiteri,[3] or the description of several new species such as Apatelodes navarroi,[3]Pantelodes camacana,[6] and seven new species of Arotros.[7]
Taxonomy
Apatelodidae has historically been placed as subfamily Apatelodinae within the Bombycidae, alongside Phiditiinae and Epiinae. Recent revisions of the taxonomy of Bombycoidea have seen both Apatelodidae and Phiditiidae elevated to separate families within the superfamily, while Epiinae remains a subfamily of Bombycidae. During those taxonomical revisions, several genera formerly placed in Apatelodinae—such as Anticla and Quentalia—were transferred to Epiinae.[4]
A major reclassification has been proposed, in a 2024 molecular revision, primarily due to findings suggesting that most of the existing genera were not monophyletic, and proposing the addition of 16 new genera.[8]
Genera
The list below follows the 2018 Global Checklist of Bombycoidea of Kitching et al,[1] with exception of changes since, in which case an additional reference is given.
